For over a decade Avon Avenue School has partnered with Winter 4 Kids for their First Tracks program,  a recurring-year, multi-session winter program designed to help students build self-esteem, make healthy life choices, and the art of alpine & cross-country skiing and snowboarding. 

For the 2026 season, Avon wanted to “Level Up” (2026 school based theme) by expanding on the concept of collaborative learning, by inviting the students of Chancellor Avenue Elementary School to participate in this adaptive learning experience. 

On a typical day, students arrive at the National Winter Activity Center, in Vernon, NJ to an welcoming onsite breakfast, prepared by an experienced kitchen staff. With the help of staff, they hop into their Winter 4 Kids branded snow gear head down to the “The Gear Pit” where their pre-sized skis and snowboards await. After additional customizations and safety checks, they head out to the snow, in their coach-led groups (pre-determined by the discipline; skiing or snowboarding, they chose) for the learning to begin. 

In First Tracks, the learning isn’t wrapped in a lesson plan or a well thought out activity-sheet, yet it happens through the natural process of learning how to do something they have never done before. It’s achieved through the encouragement of getting back up and trying again after a fall. It's in the choice to not laugh at a group member's inability, but to encourage their ability, and celebrate  when the whole team gets it right.  

Dr. Samantha Lott-Velez, Assistant Superintendent of the South/West Region, offered this insight into, the impact of collaborative learning through the Winter 4 Kids First Tracks Program, “What we’re seeing through this experience is that collaboration isn’t something we teach in isolation, it’s something students live. When students are challenged in new environments and supported by one another, they build confidence, resilience, and a deeper understanding of what it means to learn as a team.”

After the first couple of hours outdoors, students come in for lunch. Lunch in itself is a part of the learning experience, as making healthy food decisions are important. Last week’s menu was a full salad bar, beef or vegetable chilli, seasoned rice, corn, mini-beef burritos, and chicken enchiladas, along with water, apple juice or orange juice. 

It is menus like this, that are all the buzz at lunch time the day after a trip to the Vernon, NJ campus.

Here’s where the adaptability livens up the learning. Over the three week session, students start at the bottom of the slope, and then they gradually begin to literally climb higher, making their way to the, “magic carpet” which is just about mid-level of the slope, eventually making their way up to the ski lift; taking them to yet another higher point, allowing them to apply all that they’ve learned with the confidence, to get back down. 

Chancellor Avenue School, 8th Grader, Rayissatiou Agbere, was asked to recount her experience at the end of the group's third week, “Winter 4 Kids was an amazing experience…I [was] able to make new friends and experience skiing down a [mountain] and learning pizza, doughnut, and fries. This experience challenged my comprehension and passion; by testing, if I fall will I get back up again or just quit on the spot. Asked the same question, 8th Grader, Imiekane Patrick, shared, “This trip challenged me by making me try and push through for the first time.”

Kinyetta Bird, Avon’s Principal, offered this perspective on the school collaboration: “I appreciate the opportunity for students who might typically walk past each other in their neighborhoods to meet, form friendships, and learn within an adaptive outdoor environment.”

“This opportunity is one I look forward to annually; due to the lifetime impact that it has on its participants. Being able to share that experience with other students within our school community made it special; many of them will now see each other in the future and will be able to recall the time they met and learned how to ski/snowboard together. They will recall a time where they were petrified at the beginning but came out on the other side more confident than ever,” shared the trip’s long-time organizer, Marcus Allen, School Clerk at Avon Avenue. Mr. Allen also spoke on the fiscal impact of the two schools traveling together, “The rising cost of transportation is something that schools have to keep a close eye on when planning field trips, 3 trips to Winter 4 Kids can cost an individual school around $2,700,  yet by partnering with another nearby school, there is a savings, that can potentially set the stage for more collaborative learning experiences. It is a heartwarming moment to know that Avon and Chancellor established a model that can be replicated around the district.”